Any golfers?

[deerslayer]

I haven’t played golf in several years until this week.  I got my shoulder rebuilt earlier this year and was curious to see how it would react to swinging a club.  I played nine holes earlier this week and was sore as hell, so me not being the smartest kid in class, I went and played again.  Sore again.  I think my days of 300 yard drives are finished and my putter wasn’t working, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I would like to get back into it again, but between my daughter’s soccer team and my addiction to competitive shooting, it will be tough to do.  

Edited October 20, 2023 by deerslayer

[DHF]

Those putters will go bad if they sit unused for awhile.  At least that's what I tell myself.

[Garufa]

I used to have a golf ball launcher for my Yugo SKS that was great fun for a few minutes.

[Burnman5000]

Use to enjoy playing. Still have clubs. Dont have anyone to golf with since moving to TN 8 years ago 

[Links2k]

A bad day of golf is better than no golf at all. Enjoy!

[btq96r]

Aside from knowing how to play a piano and guitar, being able to golf is one thing I wish I'd have picked up over life. 

I've tried, but I'm just hapless at it.  I'd need retire in my 40s money to have the time and cost of lessons.  But I enjoy watching it on TV, when others think it's boring as can be.

[deerslayer]

I was looking for the 150 marker on one hole when a voice inside my head said, "Hey numbnuts, it's a par 3."  Yeah I have a long way to go.  

[spurge]

I was just talking about bring out the clubs again. I do enjoy a good round but a long driver I am not...

[KahrMan]

I am playing this weekend.  Not very good but I always have a good time.

[Scotty]

I was a +- 9 handicap at 12 years old. I used to sneak a few holes in as the sun came up before school, I’d pitch and putt anywhere I could. I was surgical with a 64 degree wedge, solid short game and that old tin cup quote about the 7 iron applied.  My grandmother worked at the course and my confirmation sponsor owned another one so I had a lot of free golf which was fortunate. I love the game of golf. 8 years old I used to with permission snake out balls from the ponds, clean them up, load them into a wagon and sell them with lemonade. Once in awhile I’d load them in the washing machine and the neighborhood sounded like the Russians were marching in with the clang and clatter. On hot days the price of lemonade may have increased a few cents. I earned a minimum of $50 a day and was out there most weekends. Good scratch for a young kid to make. I went to college with quite a bit of my original golf ball/lemonade stand money (that I didn’t blow on baseball cards or autograph memorabilia) By 12 years old I had a whole setup that looked semi professional. I would sit on the back nine and occasionally wager people for closest to the pin on a short par 3. Golf was very good to me when I was younger, kept me disciplined, focused.
 

Fast forward to 16-17, I’ve been a great young player on the golf team a couple years and now post puberty. I’ve traveled around and played weekend tournaments with the same circuit for awhile and one a bit of pro shop money. Dropped 20 lbs and grew a bit, had an incurable duck hook. Probably mental. Went to a swing doctor, hit the range until I blistered. Talked to course pros. Couldn’t cure it, eventually didn’t trust myself with anything more than a 5 wood.
 

I slowly moved up starting slots on the team, barely getting a spot as a non-alternate. During a round my coach was watching, 100 yard shot with 70 yards of water and a very large green. Should be a light PW, easy two putt par on a hole I played a hundred times. First one, caught fat and hit in the drink. Second one, short and kicked in the drink. Third one I sculled so poorly it ended up in the parking lot. 

 

I lost my temper as 16 year olds do. I snapped the wedge and tossed it. Went to my bag and snapped my 9. I walked up to the coach rage crying and told him I quit. I really respected him and had known him a long time from being around the course, I had my mind made up though.  I went from beating up on kids in summer tournaments and taking their “chore money” (I didn’t get paid to do chores) in skins all my life to getting beaten by them. Mentally I wasn’t there. I finished the round and I focused on basketball. 
 

I didn’t touch a club for a decade except for hitting balls in the woods, or the occasional pitch and putt. Fast forward to moving down here and trying to make friends I went out with a guy I met. I shot bogey golf honestly without mulligans. I found myself instantly getting the competitive itch and I had to tell myself that I didn’t want the stress in my life again. Now, I go out every once in awhile with some guys. One younger kid whose game has really improved texts me videos and his swing sessions and gets a kick out of it. He caught the bug and I like hearing how excited he is telling me his improvements on breaking 100, then 90. I did recently buy a set of old 90’s titleist DCI blade irons I used growing up. They sit in the truck and every once in awhile I’ll hit the range to blow off stress or just nail some in the backyard. If I play now I don’t even take a score card, I don’t let it get to me, and I usually pickup around hole 16 and just enjoy the ride and camaraderie. 
 

When I get into something I go full on. After golf it was shooting pool for hours upon hours. After pool it was darts.  Shooting.  Self admitted workaholic. If I’m dieting I’ve got meals and macros weighed and dialed in by the ounce/calorie. I can say with 100% confidence that golf is a wonderful game. I just know how hard and competitive I am with myself and I can’t catch the bug again. I’ll always treat it as a nice day in the sun and will play socially, I don’t want to get to the point where I’m hitting range balls in the dark or playing 36 holes. I have to fight the urge every time I even look at a club. 
 

I will say it was nice when all the guys in the shop were hitting balls into the woods and generally hacking and duffing most. I walked up and nailed a dozen or so dead straight 180 yard 6-irons. Got to talk some smack for the day. The ride home I thought about getting the bag out and then I snapped out of it and remembered shooting is expensive enough and less frustrating for me. I love the game, I love that other people love the game. I just don’t want to get back into it!

[Scotty]

That was way longer than I thought it would be. Almost therapeutic to get that off my chest and write my thoughts down. Sorry for the rambling

[jhc77]

Last time I held a GHIN handicap it was a 1.8. If I could get out and practice every other week I could get back to that. I can grab my sticks hit a few balls and still shoot 76-80 these days. I still enjoy it but 9 year old girl and 14 year old boy keep me in the other fields of green. 

[peejman]

I really enjoy golf but don't get to play much these days.  I played competitively in high school. We had a membership at Creeks Bend in Chattanooga.  I'd play 90 holes/week in the summer, got my handicap down around 4.  That was a long time ago. 

Now with 2 boys who want to come along, makes it an expensive hobby. My budget can't handle $150 for an afternoon very often. The utter lack of reasonable youth rates is very disappointing.  The par 3 courses are the only ones I've found that are affordable.

I tried to play 9 holes about once a month with a few guys at my old job. Haven't found anyone at the new job yet.  The dog likes it when I hit the tennis ball across the yard with my 7 iron. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by peejman

[Johnny Rotten]

My long game is great, short game not so much

F5 MFG Can Launcher & Golf Ball Attachment with 900 Rounds of FREE Blanks in a M2A1 Ammo Can UPC: 810091155240 - Global Ordnance

[RED333]

Golf is a game that will make you poor and mad as hell in a short time. I played in JR High and High school not very good. Top golf came along and I can still swing correct and hit correct, aim is something else, I am fair. Just not enough cash to play or bet with.

2 hours ago, Johnny Rotten said:

My long game is great, short game not so much

F5 MFG Can Launcher & Golf Ball Attachment with 900 Rounds of FREE Blanks in a M2A1 Ammo Can UPC: 810091155240 - Global Ordnance

I picked up a screw on the barrel device and make my own "blanks", makes a ball disappear in the blink of the eye, good fun.

[jarhead]

I play 18 holes with a regular foursome every week. Usually on Wednesday mornings. Frustrating and rewarding. Last week , I shot 36 (rewarding) on the front nine and 45 on the back (frustrating).

[The Legion]

I started playing golf when I was 11 years old.  I used my dads old golf set from the 1950's.  I had a driver, 3-wood, 5-7-9 irons, and a flat head putter.  The course I played on growing up was a short course around 6000 yds total, but did have four difficult holes on the course.  Membership for those under 18 was $45 per yr unlimited play.  In the summer when school was out my mother would drop me off at the course at 8:00am and pick me up around 8:00pm Monday thru Friday.  I could play 18 holes walking in about 2 1/2 hrs, so I was able to get in about four rounds per day in. By the time I was in Middle School 7th, 8th, and 9th grade I had a 38 average for 9 holes.  That was good enough to be the number one man on the golf team and was also the number one man on my High School team.  After High School I got a job as Second Assistant and Caddy Master at Gary County Club in Gary, Indiana and participated in Pro Am golf tournaments in the area.  The only major PGA tournament I played in was the 1980 Panasonic Open in Las Vegas.  I was invited to play in the Pro Am and had a really great time.  I determined that golf was not going to be my career so I moved to Denver and worked for Coors Brewing Co.  At Coors we had a golf program that we played at a different course each weekend and I was the companies number one golfer with a 3 handicap.  Left Denver and moved to Memphis when Coors purchased the Stroh's Brewery.  Continued to play golf until my back went out and stopped playing golf.  The last time I played a round of golf was in the yr. 2000.  I really miss playing golf. 

Below are a few pictures when I was playing golf.  The first one is in High School.  I am the one in the white sweater.  The second picture was at our city tournament which I was second place.  I am on the right.  The last picture I am with some of the qualifiers for a Pro Am in Hammond, Indiana.  I am the second from the right.

Edited October 22, 2023 by The Legion

[deerslayer]

2 hours ago, The Legion said:

I started playing golf when I was 11 years old.  I used my dads old golf set from the 1950's.  I had a driver, 3-wood, 5-7-9 irons, and a flat head putter.  The course I played on growing up was a short course around 6000 yds total, but did have four difficult holes on the course.  Membership for those under 18 was $45 per yr unlimited play.  In the summer when school was out my mother would drop me off at the course at 8:00am and pick me up around 8:00pm Monday thru Friday.  I could play 18 holes walking in about 2 1/2 hrs, so I was able to get in about four rounds per day in. By the time I was in Middle School 7th, 8th, and 9th grade I had a 38 average for 9 holes.  That was good enough to be the number one man on the golf team and was also the number one man on my High School team.  After High School I got a job as Second Assistant and Caddy Master at Gary County Club in Gary, Indiana and participated in Pro Am golf tournaments in the area.  The only major PGA tournament I played in was the 1980 Panasonic Open in Las Vegas.  I was invited to play in the Pro Am and had a really great time.  I determined that golf was not going to be my career so I moved to Denver and worked for Coors Brewing Co.  At Coors we had a golf program that we played at a different course each weekend and I was the companies number one golfer with a 3 handicap.  Left Denver and moved to Memphis when Coors purchased the Stroh's Brewery.  Continued to play golf until my back went out and stopped playing golf.  The last time I played a round of golf was in the yr. 2000.  I really miss playing golf. 

Below are a few pictures when I was playing golf.  The first one is in High School.  I the one in the white sweater.  The second picture was at our city tournament which I was second place.  I am on the right.  The last picture I am with some of the qualifiers for a Pro Am in Hammond, Indiana.  I am the second from the right.

I recognize you in those pics.  That's awesome.